Date: Fri 27-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

space-needs-Fairfield-Hills

Full Text:

Space Needs Panels Gets Some Suggestions About Fairfield Hills

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The municipal space needs committee will have some tough decisions to make in

the coming months. Members are welcoming public comment as they set out to

find a solution to the town's space needs woes.

On Wednesday, two residents took them up on their request and urged the board

to seriously consider putting town offices at Fairfield Hills, which is

currently on the market.

State Rep Julia Wasserman said town offices should be located at the former

state mental institution.

"I feel the town should have a presence at Fairfield Hills. Rather than

putting up a new building, I think you need to take a very hard look at

Watertown Hall," she said.

The committee was recently presented 13 different scenarios for addressing the

need for more municipal office space from Kaestle Boos Architects. Some of

them call for the construction of a new municipal building, while others

suggest the town add on to its existing buildings. The two most expensive

scenarios include the re-use of either Watertown Hall or the Gordon Fraser

Building on South Main Street.

Mrs Wasserman said Watertown Hall is a good location, arguing the cost to

renovate the dilapidated building would be far less than the construction of a

new building. That may not be entirely accurate, according to Architect Rusty

Malik.

The committee has been leaning away from Watertown Hall. "It seems to be at

odds with what the committee and Kaestle Boos are thinking," committee chair

Bill Brimmer said of Mrs Wasserman's suggestion.

The Board of Education is also looking at the Watertown Hall site. Mr Malik

said Watertown Hall would need to be stripped down to the walls before it

could be renovated as municipal office building.

A New Twist

Newtown resident Ruby Johnson suggested a different tack, urging the committee

and the town to consider purchasing the entire Fairfield Hills property, which

the state has put on the market for between $3-10 million. The property

includes 180 acres (85 in the main campus) and 1.5 million square feet of

building space.

"My neighbors say town hall should be right there in the center of Fairfield

Hills," she said.

Mrs Johnson reminded the committee that Newtown is short on sports fields.

Fairfield Hills could provide the town enough space to address the town's

needs well into the 21st Century.

"Could we dream a little bit and think about the year 2050? Something is going

to happen to Newtown and bad things happen to towns that don't plan," she

said. "The land is available. We'll never have the opportunity to buy 180

acres again."

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and committee member Bob Hall have both been

told by the state that price will not be the only consideration in selling

Fairfield Hills.

Committee member Charles Nanavaty agreed with Mrs Johnson, pointing out that

the town will be back at the table discussing municipal space needs in the

year 2020. Let's face it, he said, site acquisition is a big part of this

whole thing. Even if you had to pay another $10 million to knock down some of

the building, you'd still be ahead of the game, he added.

"We could be doing another study in 15-20 years. The Fairfield Hills land will

still be available if we get it now," he said. "We may or may not need

additional real estate. That property gives us enough real estate for the next

100 years for municipal space."

Mr Brimmer said Mrs Johnson was the first to bring up Fairfield Hills as a

possible solution to the town's municipal space problems. He said adding

Fairfield Hills into the equation would require another study and committee.

The town's Fairfield Hills Advisory Panel has recommended the town not

purchase the property.

Nuts And Bolts

Committee member David Valerie said he was impressed by people's concern for

the future. He added, however, that it is still too soon to discuss where the

town's seat of government should end up.

"What I'm hearing are solutions. Why can't we do this? Why can't we do that,"

he said. "First we need to understand what our needs actually are."

This week, the board received detailed accounts of the current conditions (and

deficiencies) of Newtown's existing municipal buildings -- Edmond Town Hall,

Town Hall South and the Hook & Ladder firehouse. The study also looked at the

conditions of Watertown Hall and the Gordon Fraser Building on South Main

Street.

According to the report, the town could bring Edmond Town Hall up to code and

improve its mechanical systems at a cost of $3.7 million. For $5.7 million,

the building could undergo a reconfiguration of space. Neither of these costs

would include the construction of any addition.

However, a 6,000-square-foot addition would only cost an extra million dollars

($6.9 million).

The estimated cost of addressing deferred maintenance at Town Hall South is

nearly $700,000 and $400,000 for Hook & Ladder. These figures do not include

cost for the abatement of hazardous materials or structural repairs.

Mr Brimmer said his committee will continue to go over the "nuts and bolts" in

the process.

"If this was a five-step program, we'd only be on the second step," he said.

"We're not even at the solution stage."